Shocktober 2020, Week 3

     This week we watched the first 9 horror films to be produced by Hammer Studios in the wake of the success of The Quatermass Xperiment, which put them on the map.

1. The Quatermass Xperiment (1955)

     An adaptation of the influential British television serial created by Nigel Kneale, this film is an excellent sci-fi/horror film. Kneale's story is filled with the anxiety about communist subversion (personified by the alien creature that seems to assimilate everything it touches) and serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of scientific experiments run amok. One is reminded, while watching it, of the fears that people living in the 50's must of had about the prospect of space travel. Val Guest, who directed many of the studios early films, really delivers a suspenseful, atmospheric adaptation. His documentary style and use of hand-held camerawork lends the picture a really grounded, realistic sensibility. Brian Donlevy, who was brought on to attract American audiences, brings a real brusqueness and all-business attitude to the role of Prof. Bernard Quatermass, whose attempt at space travel leads to all the trouble. The real star of the film, however, is Richard Wordsworth, who plays the possessed astronaut Victor Carroon with real conviction. He gives the alien creature a really monstrous quality, largely without the aid of make-up. 

Score: 9/10

2. X the Unknown (1956)

     Another fine sci-fi horror film from Hammer, X the Unknown shifts the focus from space (as in Quatermass, which this was originally intended as a sequel to) to the depths of the earth. Dean Jagger, brought on like Brian Donlevy to attract American audiences, is great as the reserved, humanistic Dr. Adam Royston, and his British co-stars all do a fine job as well. It lacks the paranoia of Kneale's story and the monster is nowhere near as frightening as it was in The Quatermass Xperiment, though the effects work is great, anticipating The Blob (1958). A solid picture nonetheless.

Score: 8/10

3. The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)

     The film that really established Hammer's distinctive brand of Gothic horror The Curse of Frankenstein was a major success for the studio. The film distinguishes itself from Universal's more famous version of Mary Shelley's story by focusing less on the monster (here played by Christopher Lee) and more on Baron Frankenstein (Peter Cushing) and his macabre experiments. Unlike Colin Clive, who played the character as obsessive but still morally centered, Cushing's Frankenstein is an unscrupulous, unfeeling maniac, focused only on completing his blasphemous experiment. This was the first Hammer film to be directed by Terence Fisher, who would become the studio's greatest auteur, and he establishes many of his trademarks in this film. It is framed as a moral struggle between Frankenstein and his mentor Paul Krempe (Robert Urquhart), who was a minor character in the novel. It really pushed the boundaries for onscreen violence, and received an X certificate from the censors in England. It was also the studio's first color film, and it is visually a sight to behold. It may not live up to Whale's film but it doesn't really try to, and it remains a stirring, gruesome chamber piece.

Score: 9/10

4. The Abominable Snowman (1957)

     Another of the studio's black-and-white sci-fi horror films, The Abominable Snowman also features elements of fantasy. Based, once again, on a television serial by Nigel Kneale, the film has echoes of Lovecraft's At the Mountains of Madness, with a team of scientists encountering an ancient race who's apparent superiority to humans is a source of horror. Peter Cushing is much more sympathetic here as the dedicated scientist Dr. Rollason. His unethical partner, Dr. Tom Friend, is played less effectively by Forrest Tucker (brought on once again to bring in U.S. audiences). Val Guest directs effectively, building the tension and sense of mystery as the film goes on. The denouement is a bit rushed and I found the film's post-humanist themes a bit repugnant, but it's a solidly made film with a paranoid atmosphere and a taut sense of suspense.

Score: 8/10 

5. Quatermass 2 (1957) 

     Based, like the first film, on the Nigel Kneale BBC serial, Quatermass 2 shifts the focus away from outer space toward government conspiracies and, like the first film, echoes cold war fears about ideological subversion. Brian Donlevy returns as the resolute Professor Quatermass who, in this film, has restarted his space program and now has designs to start a colony on the moon. When he stumbles on a top-secret government program remarkably similar to the one he has proposed, he is lead deeper and deeper into a nefarious conspiracy that ultimately proves to be of extraterrestrial origin. Quatermass 2 feels indebted, to some extent, to Don Siegal's Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) and, thanks largely to Val Guest's steady direction (borrowing, once again from cinema verite' techniques) is quite effective, if ultimately less satisfying then the first film.

Score: 8/10

6. Dracula (1958)

      Terence Fisher's second film for the studio is a masterpiece. Bram Stoker's novel is stripped down to it's barest essential's and the action is condensed to a smaller geographical area. Though it lacks the richness of its source material as a result of this the film still retains its Victorian sensibilities and sense of sexual allure attached to its titular antagonist. The film reunites Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, who would go on to appear in more then 20 films together and would eventually become great friends. Even more then in The Curse of Frankenstein there is an underlying moral struggle between good, here exemplified by Cushing's Dr. Van Hesling, and evil, exemplified by Lee's creature of the night, that drives the film. Fisher's amps up the novel's sexual tension and focuses more on it's religious imagery then the 1931 Universal film had. James Bernard's score is magnificent, and the cinematography and set design are impeccable. As an adaptation of Stoker's novel, it is rivaled only by Murnau's Nosferatu.

Score: 10/10 

7. The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

     Even more grisly then The Curse of Frankenstein, Revenge is also more thematically complex then it's predecessor. The monster here is a hunchback (Oscar Quitak), crippled from birth, for whom Frankenstein makes a new body. All seems well at first but when the now normal looking creature is beat up while sneaking into the doctor's lab, his brain malfunctions, and he starts attacking people. It seems to me that the story could be viewed as a sort of refutation of Gnosticism, with the exchanging of one body for another destroying the integral union between body and soul. In any case this is a solid sequel. Peter Cushing is, once again, great as the mad doctor but it's Michael Gwynn, playing the hunchback in his new body, that steals the show. He is particularly brilliant in the scene where he is punched around by George Woodbridge's drunken janitor, and the inner monster comes out. With that said, the plot is a little contrived at times and the film is lacking in focus in comparison to its predecessor. It lacks a likable protagonist like Krempe from the first film.

Score: 8/10

8. The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959)

     It seems clear, in adapting this most well known of Sherlock Holmes stories that the filmmakers wanted to avoid treading on familiar territory, so this film takes liberties with the source material while still remaining true to it. The result is an excellent adaptation that amps up the blood and violence in comparison to the novel (and the 1939 film with Basil Rathbone). Peter Cushing makes for an excellent Holmes (if a little more temperamental then usual) while André Morell's Watson is a welcome change from Nigel Bruce's more bumbling take on the character (though I do quite like Bruce in the role). Christopher Lee appears with Cushing once again, here playing a rather stern Sir Henry Baskerville while Marla Landi plays this films feisty version of Mrs. Stapleton (here the daughter, rather then the sister, of Baskerville's neighbor). The film has plenty of atmosphere and tension, likely thanks to director Terence Fisher but is marred by some rather poor day-for-night shooting and by a slower moving plot that indulges a few times too often in lengthy scenes of comic relief.

Score: 8/10

9. The Mummy (1959)

     A pretty good update of the 1932 Universal film, The Mummy benefits from Jack Asher's color cinematography, which really works with the film's exotic subject matter. Peter Cushing puts in a strong perfomance as the archeologist John Banning while Christopher Lee is at his best as the vengeful, obsessive Kharis. Eddie Byrne plays off of Cushing well as the skeptical police inspector, Mulrooney while George Pastell's hides a deep-seated fanaticism beneath a veneer of respectability as the vengeful worshiper of Karnak, Mehemet Bey. It's sluggishly paced at times, even more so then the Universal film, but I enjoyed it more, partly because of the cast but mainly because the stellar production design and sense of atmosphere.

Score: 8/10

     Next week, I'll look at the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise as well as the last few Friday the 13th films, stay tuned!

Western Wednesdays: The Last of the Mohicans (1936)

     The Last of the Mohicans was released on September 4th, 1936. Directed by George B. Seitz it is an adaptation of the novel by James Fenimore Cooper and was adapted for the screen by writers Philip Dunne and John L. Balderston. In it, Alice and Cora Munro (Binnie Barnes and Heather Angel respectively), the daughters of Colonel George Munro (Hugh Buckler), commander of British Fort William Henry, set out to join their father in the midst of the French and Indian War. Escorting them are Major Duncan Hayward (Henry Wilcoxon) and a group of Huron braves lead by the treacherous Magua (Bruce Cabot). When Magua betrays them they are rescued by a pair of Mohican Indians, Robert Barrat's Chingachgook and his son Uncas (Phillip Reed), along with the white companion Hawkeye (Randolph Scott).

     While the plot of The Last of the Mohicans mostly follows that of the novel the characters are quite different and many significant details are changed. Alice and Cora's personalities have been switched around, with the former being more assertive and protective then she was in the book. In addition, a romantic relationship between Alice and Hawkeye is added which, in my view, takes away from Hawkeye's character. It also means that Duncan is made out to be kind of a pompous ass. In the book he is naive at times (which makes sense given the unfamiliar situation he finds himself in) but is generally quick to learn, and he and Hawkeye share a relationship of mutual respect, whereas here they are constantly at each others throats.

     Many of these changes were carried over into the Micheal Mann remake, which I reviewed some years back. This makes sense given that Mann has cited this film as being the main basis for his, as he didn't like Cooper's novel, seeing it as a glorification of white seizure of Indian lands. There, of course, Duncan and Hawkeye's affections are transferred to Cora (who retains her characterization from the novel) while Alice is now the one who is killed. Unlike the remake, this film stay closer to the source material's original ending, and includes the shooting match between Hawkeye and Duncan (who tries to claim the hunter's identity in order to save his life). 

     The film is well cast, particularly Randolph Scott as Hawkeye, even if I wish he was less of a romantic lead. Bruce Cabot is also good as the villainous Magua, though I definitely prefer Wes Studi in the role. Henry Wilcoxon does the best he can in his thankless role as Duncan Hayward. Binnie Barnes is excellent as Alice as is Heather Angel as her more subdued sister. Phillip Reed and Robert Barrat are somewhat underutilized as Uncas and Chingachgook while Frank McGlynn Sr. is a great choice to play the pious Gamut, whose role is significantly reduced here. George Seitz's direction is unremarkable but competent, and he handles the big battle really well. Cinematographer Robert H. Planck captures the action well but ultimately leavers the film feeling a little confined and lacking in scale.

     In the end this is a completely respectable adaption of The Last of the Mohicans, if ultimately a little lightweight. 

Score: 8/10

Shocktober 2020, Week 2

     This week we watched Universal horror (as we did last year). Quite a few of these aren't horror films as the list I was using to find them (I'm trying to watch every horror film the studio produced) used a rather loose definition of the genre. 

1. Secret of the Chateau (1934)

     Not really a horror film but, like The Secret of the Blue Room (1933) (which I watched last year) it's a decent enough mystery thriller with a rather rushed denouement. It's saving grace is the unique characters and strong cast. In particular Claire Dodd's reformed (maybe?) criminal Julie Verlaine and her relationship with Ferdinand Gottschalk's Chief Inspector Marotte is really engaging. Marotte is one of the more compelling detective characters I've seen in a film of this kind.  It's worth checking out for fans of old mystery films.

Score: 7/10

2. The Man Who Reclaimed His Head (1934)

     Again, not a horror film though it does have a rather unsettling opening, The Man Who Reclaimed His Head is a fairly strong drama/thriller with some noir-esque undertones. Claude Rains is great in the lead role as is Lionel Atwill as his unscrupulous, manipulative employer. The film's exploration of politics, populism and manufactured consent is quite fascinating if a little heavy handed at times. Veteran director Edward Ludwig does a good job behind the camera and there's some really atmospheric shots courtesy of cinematographer Merritt B. Gerstad.

Score: 8/10

3. Life Returns (1935)

     A rather bizarre film, inspired by the real life experiments of controversial biologist Robert E. Cornish. Cornish, who appears near the end of the film, playing himself, made a name for himself when he became doing experiments to reanimate the dead. The film documents Cornish's experiment in the last act, and this is clearly the film's raison d'etre. The rest of the movie features a contrived story about another scientist (played by Onslow Stevens) who attempts to resuscitate dead animals and whose life is suddenly turned upside down when he is rejected by the scientific community for his experiments, his wife dies and his son is taken away by the state for want of care. The depressed and defeated doctor redeems himself in the end when he teams up with Cornish to bring his son's dog (euthanized by the dog catcher) back to life. The story is paper thin, the performances stilted and the direction uninspired. Worth watching only as a (morbid) curiosity. 

Score: 3/10 

4. The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935)

     An adaptation of Dicken's final, unfinished novel (which I haven't read), Edwin Drood is a fine costume drama, featuring stirring direction from Stuart Walker and terrific performances from the whole cast. It may not be a horror film in the strict sense but it is wonderfully atmospheric and, thanks to a committed performance from Claude Rains, quite unsettling at times. Heather Angel is also great as Rosa, and her chemistry with David Manners' Edwin Drood is really a delight. The way the film ends (presumably a non-Dickensian invention) works surprisingly well.

Score: 9/10 

5. Bride of Frankenstein (1935)

     One of the studio's all time greats. Director James Whale returns to the slicker and more humorous sequel to his 1931 classic. It lacks Frankenstein's tightly focused story and is, at times, tonally inconsistent, but it is also thematically richer and and more emotionally mature. Karloff is even better here then he was in the first film while Elsa Lanchester shines both as Mary Shelley and as the Bride. Much has been made of the film's alleged homosexual subtext (the director was gay) but I think that this is largely idle speculation. More worrisome is the film's inversion of Christian iconography (the Monster is raised from the dead first, then crucified) but a Christian worldview ultimately shines forth, as playing God is explicitly condemned while the compassion of O. P. Heggie's blind hermit, and the love of life he teaches to the monster, is held up as an ideal. It is his attempt to edify the monster, not Frankenstein's creation  of him, that is worthy of praise.

Score: 9/10 

 

6. The Werewolf of London (1936)

     The studio's first werewolf picture, this film suffers from having a singularly unlikable protagonist in Henry Hull's Wilfred Glendon. Still, the actor manages to attach some pathos to the doctor's plight and one time Charlie Chan Warner Oland makes for a good foil as Dr. Yogami. The plot, presented as a mystery, is fairly engaging and there's some welcome comic relief courtesy of Ethel Griffies and Zeffie Tilbury. The film's take on werewolf lore is fairly unique and it's urban setting was, at the time of the film's release anyway, somewhat novel.

Score: 8/10

7. The Raven (1935)

     The third Universal film to be based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe and the third to team Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi (after Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Black Cat) The Raven is a fun little horror film. Lugosi, though he receives second billing, is clearly the star and is delightfully unhinged as the mad doctor Richard Vollin, whose obsession with Poe's work leads him to make a torture chamber inspired by his poems featuring, for instance, a pendulum with a crescent razor. Karloff is also magnificent as the fugitive and murderer Edmond Bateman, who Vollin manipulates to do his dirty work. Irene Ware is good as the ingenue, Jean Thatcher, who Vollin begins obsessing over when he saves her life after a car accident and Peter Bailey himself (Samuel S. Hinds) plays her prudent father, who disapproves of Vollin's interest in his daughter.

Score: 8/10

8. The Invisible Ray (1936)

     Yet another Karloff/Lugosi vehicle, this one features Karloff in the lead as visionary astronomer Janos Rukh, who discovers Radium X, the effects of which hold untold potential both for good and ill. Exposure to the substance poisons the doctor, who turns to Lugosi's Dr. Felix Benet for help. Rukh's neglect of his wife (Frances Drake) cause her to leave him for Frank Lawton's Ronald Drake and the effects of Benet's antidote slowly begin to drive him mad. He eventually fakes his death and begins plotting the murder of Drake, his wife, and anyone else he feels has wronged him. As in The Black Cat, Lugosi makes for a surprisingly kindly contrast to Karloff's aloof Dr. Rukh. Director Lambert Hillyer, who also helmed many of the studio's westerns, does a great job behind the camera, and the film is wonderfully atmospheric.

Score: 8/10

9. Dracula's Daughter (1936)

     The studio's second attempt at a sequel, Dracula's Daughter does not fare as well as Bride of Frankenstein. On the plus side director Lambert Hillyer really delivers an atmospheric film and Edward Van Sloan, returning as Professor Van Helsing, is awesome once again. Newcomer Gloria Holden is also great as the titular monster, as is Otto Kruger as suave protagonist Jeffrey Garth. Like Bride this film is often said to have a homosexual subtext, and in this case it is hard to deny though it is also a decidedly anti-homosexual one, portraying such behavior as frightful sexual deviancy. The film suffers from an overabundance of ill fitting comedy (though much of it is rather funny) and lacks the focus of it's predecessor. It is worth checking out nonetheless.

Score: 8/10

     Next week we go across the pond to check out Hammer's House of Horror!

Western Wednesdays: Daniel Boone (1936)

 

     Daniel Boone was released on October 16th, 1936. Directed by David Howard and written by Daniel Jarrett and Edgecumb Pincho, it stars George O'Brien as the titular legendary frontiersman and is a loose retelling of the founding of Boonesborough.

 

     The film follows the actual history very loosely, instead  following the basic formula of wagon train pictures like The Covered Wagon and The Big Trail. All three films of these films feature a love triangle, with the fair maiden being wooed away from a smooth talking con-man by the rugged, no-nonsense lead. Like The Big Trail, Daniel Boone also features a second rivalry, between the lead and an uncouth renegade, which ends with a brutal bit of frontier justice. Director David Howard does the best he can with the derivative script, keeping the film moving at a good pace and he does a particularly good job with the action scenes.  The cinematography by Frank Good is also top notch. 

 

     This was the first picture O'Brien did after moving from Fox to RKO. He's good as Boone, bringing a real dynamism and heroic character to the role. A young John Carradine takes on the role of the heavy, Simon Girty, a white renegade who stirs the Indians up to attack the settlers. Carradine brings his usual menace to the role and Girty has to be one of the nastiest villian the actor ever played. Heather Angel (Cora from The Last of the Mohicans) plays the love interest, Virginia Randolph, and has good chemistry with O'Brien (Boone's wife Rebecca is conspicuously absent). Ralph Forbes' Stephen Marlowe provides Boone with a romantic rival and a remarkably despicable one at that while George Regas' Black Eagle functions as his trusty sidekick. I have to wonder if Regas' character was an inspiration for Ed Ames Mingo in the Fess Parker series. Finally Dickie Jones and Huntley Gordon play Virginia's brother and father respectively, and both are killed, tragically, in the last act. 

 

     Daniel Boone is unusually dark for a B-western. Aside from the aforementioned deaths (one of a 9 year old boy no less!) the films ending is really rather somber. Having held off the attacks of the Indians, stirred up by Girty, the people of Boonesborough are forced to leave their hard-won new home when the corrupt government officials force them out on a technicality, ceding the land to the unscrupulous Marlowe. Nonetheless, the film ends with Boone and Randolph cheerfully leading the settlers toward a new settlement, forging a new frontier with unfettered optimism.

 

Score: 7/10

Shocktober 2020, Week 1

 

     Well, it's that time of year again. This week my brother and I watched movies about serial killers. 

1. Halloween II (2009)

     The only Halloween film I hadn't seen before now, Rob Zombie's sequel is as bizarre as I expected it to be. In many ways I enjoyed it more then the first film as the director was clearly more free to do what he wanted with the material here. The first 10 minutes or so are a retread of the original sequel but after this the film moves firmly into it's own territory. Laurie is now a mental case living with Sheriff Brackett and his daughter while Micheal (presumed dead) has become a wandering tramp. The visions he continues to have of his mother are intriguing and the issue of mental illness is handled with more sensitivity then I expected but ultimately its all a bit pretentious and the contrast between the brutal onscreen slayings and the commentary the film is clearly trying to make about the sensationalization of serial killers only results in cognitive dissonance. 

Score: 6/10

2. Psycho (1960)

     Alfred Hitchock's all time classic both popularized the serial killer movie and helped to define the slasher genre. It also pushed the boundaries for onscreen violence and sexuality onscreen. In retrospect, as a pious Catholic viewer, I can't help but regret the film's influence on our culture. Nevertheless, Hitchcock's film is undeniably well crafted and, by modern standards, incredibly restrained. Anthony Perkins performance is deservedly legendary and the rest of the cast do a fine job as well, particularly Martin Balsam and Janet Leigh. The script, exploring the terrible price of constructing one's own reality, would be nearly flawless but for the films expository laden coda.

Score: 9/10

3. Misery (1990)

     One of the better Stephen King adaptations I've watched (though I haven't read the book) Misery is a first rate horror/thriller. Director Rob Reiner (best known for comedies like The Princess Bride and This is Spinal Tap) does a great job building suspense and the script, aided no doubt by King's source material, has a really meta quality to it, exploring the rather uncomfortable relationship a writer (or any artist) often has with obsessive fans. It is also one of the author's more restrained works (which is usually a good thing). Kathy Bates is great as the manic Annie Wilkes, sweet and caring one minute and completely deranged the next while James Caan brings his usual down-to-earth method acting to bear as the weary writer Paul Sheldon.

Score: 9/10

4. Silence of the Lambs (1990)

     The only horror film ever to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, The Silence of the Lambs is best remembered for Anthony Hopkins chilling portrayal of the incarcerated cannibal, Hannibal Lecter but the film is buttressed by fine performances from the entire cast from Jodie Foster to Ted Levine to Scott Glenn. The script wisely focuses in on Foster's agent Starling, who must go toe-to-toe with the larger-than-life Lecter, but it's the film's exploration of the nature of evil and our confrontation with it, along with the riveting direction from Jonathan Demme, that really make the it hold up. Not to be overlooked is the production design by Kristi Zea, with Hannibal's dank, dark cell beneath the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane and his cage-like cell in the Tennessee courthouse artfully captured by cinematographer Tak Fujimoto

Score: 10/10

5. Red Dragon (2002)

     An adaptation of Thomas Harris' first Hannibal Lecter novel, Red Dragon is rather pedestrian in comparison to Silence. Like that film it features strong performances, Ralph Fiennes is good as the film's titular serial killer, and the always wonderful Emily Watson is great as his blind coworker, Reba McClane. On the other hand Hopkins is never as frightening as he was in the earlier film (and looks a good deal too old and fat) nor does his chemistry with Edward Norton have the same electricity that he had with Foster. Nevertheless, it is a performance driven film featuring rather pedestrian direction from Brett Ratner and a less focused script then it's predecessor (probably because the filmmakers wanted, understandably, to feature Lecter more prominently). In the end, it's a decent enough follow up to an all time classic. Manhunter, an earlier adaptation by Micheal Mann is also worth checking out, and is a more focused and stylistically interesting work. 

Score: 8/10

6. Saw (2004)

     A sophomoric effort from James Wan, who would go on to helm the Conjuring and Insidious films, Saw has an interesting premise (two men wake up chained to the floor chained a dilapidated bathroom) that is somewhat squandered by the films overly complicated plot. The script, by Leigh Whannell (a frequent collaborator of Wan who has gone on to direct Upgrade (2018) and The Invisible Man (2020)), is the kind that seems to make less sense the more you think about it. Wan's direction shows promise, but is marred by an over-reliance on jump scares and rapid fire editing. The film is at it's best when focusing on Adam and Lawrence (Leigh Whannell and Cary Elwes respectively) as they struggle to discover a way to escape the situation they find themselves in.  

 Score: 6/10 

7. Zodiac (2007) 

     In many ways the antidote to the other films on this list, Zodiac explores the effect that serial killers can have on the lives of those who pursue them, and reveals how unhealthy our obsession over them is. The film is perfectly cast from Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr. obsessed journalists to Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards over-worked detectives. Sticking close to historical fact, it casts a wide net, featuring a cast that also includes Brian Cox, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas and many others and it covers 22 years of history, from the killer's first publicized murder in 1969 to the death of one of the prime suspects. It's effectively helmed by David Fincher (whose work I usually find pretentious) who handles the murders with detached objectivity while imbuing the investigation with a gripping, at times feverish, sense of urgency. A great film. 

Score: 10/10 

Next week, more Universal Monsters!

Blog Update: Business as usual...

     Well my second Westember series has wrapped up and overall, it was a pretty successful endeavor, bringing in quite a few more view then last year's series. Moving forward I will try to get back to my weekly reviews (Western Wednesdays, Saturday Evening Cartoons, etc.) and also do my yearly Shocktober series, doing short weekly reviews of the horror films my brother and I watch throughout the month. Expect the first installment of that this Saturday. Stay tuned...